Cabinet

ABSTRACT

In a cabinet having vertically extending side members ( 5 ) forming part of a chassis of the cabinet, panel mounts ( 1 ), also to extend vertically in the cabinet and to have panels mounted thereupon, are mountable to the side members ( 5 ) by integral members ( 3 ) which extend parallel to the outer face of the panel mount ( 1 ) at a spacing from the outer face and in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal extent of the panel mount ( 1 ), i.e., horizontally. The integral members ( 3 ) are engaged in respective apertures in the side members ( 5 ) or in braces ( 7 ) extending between the side members ( 5 ) followed by forward or rearward movement to effect securement, retaining means such as pins or studs then being inserted in aligned bores ( 8, 9 ) in the panel mounts ( 1 ) and side members ( 5 ) to prevent return movement.

[0001] The invention relates to electrical cabinets.

[0002] Electrical cabinets are used for receiving electronic andelectrical components particularly but not exclusively for the operationof local data networks. The components such as sub-racks with electronicand electrical components, fans and other accessories are mounted withinthe cabinet on internal frames and the cabinets generally have sidepanels, a door and end panels and are mounted on a frame whichpreferably comprises upper and lower end members and verticallyextending side members preferably provided one towards the front and theother towards the rear at each lateral side of the cabinet.

[0003] According to one aspect of the invention, panel mounts,comprising members to extend vertically within the cabinet and havingattachment means whereby panels can be mounted thereupon, are mounted tothe side members of the cabinet by integral members which extendsubstantially parallel to the outer face of the panel mount at a spacingfrom the outer face and in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinalextent of the panel mount, such integral members each being engaged in arespective aperture in the side members or braces extending between theside members at one lateral side of the cabinet, followed by movementforwardly or rearwardly to secure the panel mount to the side members,retaining means such as a pin or stud then being inserted in alignedbores in the panel mounts and side members or braces to prevent returnmovement in said forward or rearward directions.

[0004] Such method of securement can have the advantage over previouslyproposed methods which involved vertical movement of the panel mounts tosecure them, that panel mounts of the full height of the side memberscan be secured to the side members where previously, due to the verticalmovement experienced during the engagement, it was necessary for thepanel mount to be significantly shorter than the side member. The panelmounts, which generally define a 483 mm (19 inch) wide mounting, canthus be secured at various locations in the depth of the cabinet and canextend for the full height of the side members.

[0005] Preferably the apertures in the side members or braces are spacedat 25 mm horizontal spacing to set the locations at which the panelmounts can be secured at 25 mm spacings.

[0006] Advantageously the braces have horizontally elongate slotstherein in addition to the apertures whereby the braces can be securedby fastenings means, such as bolts, extending through the slots wherebythe braces are horizontally movable with respect to the side members topermit the panel mounts to be secured at any desired location in thedepth of the cabinet.

[0007] According to another aspect of the invention in an electricalcabinet chassis supports, for example for supporting shelves, areprovided in the form of cantilevers by providing the chassis supportswith vertically spaced securing hooks which together are capable ofpreventing pivoting movement of a mounted article such as a shelf.

[0008] The vertically spaced hooks may project longitudinally of a wallof the chassis support and parallel thereto to be engaged in respectiveapertures in a member from which they are to be supported.

[0009] According to a further aspect of the invention, means to securein abutment two rectangular section tubular metal members with theirlongitudinally axes mutually at right angles comprises punching ordrilling at least two first holes in one wall of each of the metalmembers, acting through the first holes so formed to burst a respectivesecond hole to each first hole in the opposite wall of the metal membersto form an outwardly extending collar, screw threading the second holesin one of the members, engaging the collars of the other of the membersin the first holes of said one of the members and engaging a boltthrough the aligned first and second holes of said one and said othermembers to engage the screw thread in the collar of said one of themembers to clamp the members together.

[0010] According to a still further aspect of the invention, in anelectrical cabinet a method of hanging a vertical side panel comprisingengaging a top flange of the side panel, which top flange has ahorizontal portion and a vertical return, over an upper suspensionmember of a frame of the cabinet and engaging a horizontal lower flangeof the side panel with an upturned hook portion at the lower end of theframe of the cabinet so that the upturned hook projects upwardly throughan aperture in the horizontal lower flange.

[0011] Preferably the aperture in the horizontal lower flange is alignedwith a cutout in a free edge of the flange and engagement is effected byengaging the hook in the cutout and then slightly raising the side panelwhile pushing it inwardly towards the cabinet before lowering the sidepanel downwardly onto the hook.

[0012] The upper suspension member of the frame may be provided at theupper end of vertical side members of the frame or may be provided onextension pieces which are supported by the vertical side members andproject laterally outwardly to extend the width of the cabinet beyondthe side members. By using such extension pieces extra wiringaccommodating spaces can be provided at one or both of the sides of acabinet.

[0013] The extension pieces can have hooks to engage over the upper edgeof the side members, preferably in a recess so that such upper edges arebelow the upper extremity of the side members, and be bolted to the sidemembers to retain them in position. Preferably each extension piece canbe used as either an upper or a lower extension piece.

[0014] The invention is diagrammatically illustrated by way of examplein the accompanying drawings, in which:—

[0015]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a panel mount with attachmentmeans and a side member on which it can be mounted according to theinvention;

[0016]FIG. 1a is a sectional end view of the panel mount of FIG. 1;

[0017]FIG. 2 is an elevation of a brace to which the panel mount of FIG.1 can be secured;

[0018]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an inner face of a chassis supportwith cantilever engagement hooks;

[0019]FIG. 4 is a view of the chassis support of FIG. 3 from the otherside;

[0020]FIG. 5 is an exploded view showing components of an electricalcabinet;

[0021]FIG. 6 is a view of the portion of FIG. 5 indicated by the arrowVI but with a panel hung thereon;

[0022]FIG. 7 is a sectional view through two of the components shown inFIG. 6;

[0023]FIG. 8 is a schematic view indicating hanging of a vertical sidepanel of an electrical cabinet by a method according to the invention;

[0024]FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken on line IX-IX of FIG. 8;

[0025]FIG. 10 is a perspective view from above and an inner face of anextension member of an electrical cabinet according to the invention ina position to form an upper extension member;

[0026]FIG. 11 is a view from the other side of the extension member ofFIG. 10 also orientated so as to form an upper member; and

[0027]FIG. 12 is a view of the extension member shown in FIGS. 10 and 11but in an orientation to form a lower extension member.

[0028] Referring to the drawings and firstly to FIGS. 1 and 2, a panelmount 1 is a generally angular section strip of metal and in one facehas a three sided cutout 2 with the portion of the wall cut out, bentoutwardly and bent back to form a tongue 3 which extends parallel to thewall in which the cutout 2 is formed. The tongue 3 can be inserted inany one of horizontally spaced apertures in a vertical side member 5forming part of the frame of an electrical cabinet or can be inserted inany one of horizontally spaced apertures 6 in a brace 7 which can besecured to the side members of the frame of an electrical cabinet on oneside of the cabinet to extend between a front side member and a rearside member. The apertures 4 or 6 are spaced at a pitch of 25 mm andthus the panel mount 1 can be supported on the side member 5 or thebrace 7 by inserting the tongue 5 in an aperture 4 or 6 and then movingthe panel mount 1 to cause the tongue 5 to move behind the web of theside member 5 or the brace 7 in which the aperture 4 or 6 is formed. Thepanel mount 1 does thus not need to be moved vertically to secure it andcan be of the same length as the side members so as to extend completelybetween upper and lower frame members of the cabinet. A through aperture8 may be provided in the panel mount 1 through which a pin or clip (notshown) can be inserted to engage in an aperture 9 provided alongside theaperture 4 or 6 in which the tongue 3 is engaged thereby to preventreturn movement which would free the tongue from the aperture 4 or 6.Elongate slots 10 in the brace 7 can be used to secure the brace 7 bybolts to the side members, the length of the slots 10 allowinglongitudinal shifting of the brace 7 with respect to the side members toallow stepless positioning of the panel mounts with respect to the sidemembers 5.

[0029] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, a chassis support 11 is shown whichcomprises upper and lower flanges 12 and 13 above and below a verticalweb 14. In the web 14 two cutouts 15 are formed by cutting around threesides and the member formed by each cutout is pressed out of the planeof the web 14 by a bend 16 and a further bend 17 and the tongue soformed which extends parallel to the web 14 but spaced therefrom is cutaway to form upper and lower hooks 18, 19. By providing the two spacedhooks the chassis support 11 can be engaged in two vertically spacedapertures and then moved downwardly so that the chassis support 11 iscantilevered from a pair of the hooks 18, 19 and can resist tiltingforces applied thereto. Although the chassis support 11 is shown ashaving two cutouts 15 and two pairs of hooks 18, 19 it is only envisagedthat one or other of the pairs of hooks would be used at any one timebut by providing two cutouts the chassis support 11 can act as alefthanded chassis support or a righthanded chassis support. The chassissupports 11 are particularly suitable for supporting shelves inelectrical cabinets.

[0030] Referring to FIG. 5, an electrical cabinet 20, shown in explodedform, comprises an upper frame 21 and a lower frame 22 each formed byback-to-back U-shaped members 23 of tubular metal, four side members 24extending between the upper frame 21 and the lower frame 22, an uppermember 25 with cutouts 25 a in three of the walls thereof, removableside panels 26 only one of which is shown and a removable door 27 whichcloses the front of the cabinet.

[0031] As can be seen in FIG. 6, the side panel 26 has an upperhorizontal flange 28 with a return vertical flange 29, the panel 26, 28,29 enveloping the two side members 24 on that side of the frame of thecupboard.

[0032]FIG. 7 shows the means whereby each of the U-shaped members 23which extend horizontally can be mounted to the respective side members24 which extend vertically. Two first holes 30 are punched or drilled inone wall 31 of the side member 24 and two first holes 32 are punched ordrilled in one wall 33 of the U-shaped member 23. Operating through thefirst holes 30, 32, second holes 34 are then burst through the secondwall 35 of the side members 24 and second holes 36 are burst through thesecond wall 37 of the U-shaped member 23. Bursting the holes in this wayforms collars 38 at the outsides of the holes 34 and collars 39 at theoutside of the holes 36. The holes 36 are then screw threaded. When themembers 23, 24 are pressed together the collars 38 on the side members24 are a push fit into the first holes 32 in the U-shaped member 23 sothat when bolts (not shown) are inserted along the aligned axis 40 ofeach of the holes 30, 34, 32, 36 to pull the members 23, 24 tightly intoengagement with one another, the members 23, 24 are locked accurately atright angles one to the other without any play such that even a tallframework of U-shaped members 23 and side members 24, for example twometres tall, can stand rigidly without a tendency for the upper frame tomove sideways or from to rear due to the connections being less thanentirely rigid. The collars 38 can however have a tapering formationsuch that great precision is not required in the formation of the holesand collars.

[0033] Referring to FIGS. 8 to 12, the upper end of each side member 24is provided with a formation similar to that shown in FIG. 10 at therighthand side thereof, that is to say it has a groove 41 in the upperface 42 stepped back from a front upper corner 43. Actually theformation shown in FIG. 10 is an extension piece to be hung on the upperor lower end of one of the side members 24 but the formation of the topend and bottom end of the side members 24 is the same as shown in FIG.10.

[0034] Referring to FIG. 8, the side panel 26 shown has its horizontalupper flange 28 overlapping the upper surface 42 of the side member 24and its vertical flange 29 engaged in the groove 41 of the upper end ofthe side member 24. At the lower end the side panel 26 has a horizontalflange 44 which, as shown in FIG. 9, has, in alignment with each of theside members 24, apertures 45 and cutouts 46. At each side of the sidemember 24 both at the upper and at the lower end a hook 47 is provided.The hook 47 at the upper end has no function but that at the lower endengages in a respective one of the apertures 45. With reference again toFIG. 8 the method of engagement is that the panel 26 is first hookedonto the upper end of the side member so that the vertical flange 29engages in the groove 41. The bottom end of the panel 26 is then pushedinwardly to engage the hooks 47 in the cutouts 46, a flared mouth of thecutouts 46 assisting this alignment. The side panel 26 is then raisedslightly and pushed inwardly so that the hook 47 at the lower end of theside member 24 can engage in the respective aperture 45 in the bottomflange 44 of the side panel 26. The side panels 26 can thus quickly andeasily be engaged with or disengaged from the framework of the cabinet.It will be seen that the hooks 47 taper down towards their free endssuch that the weight of the panel engages the edges of the apertures 45both with the outer and with the inner faces of the hook 47 so thatvibration will not cause rattling of the panel.

[0035] Referring now also to FIGS. 11 and 12, the extension pieces 48have, in addition to the groove 41, the top face 42, the front edge 43and the hooks 47 previously described, a bent out tongue 49 and alignedapertures 50, 51 by means of which they can be hooked onto and bolted tothe outer face of the upper and lower ends of the side members 24. Theextension pieces 48 are preferably 100 mm between the front edge 43 andthe upper edge of the face in which the tongue 49 is provided wherebythey can space the side panels 26 outwardly from the side members 24 by100 mm to give an additional space for extra wiring or other purposes. Ablanking plate can extend between the door of the cabinet and theextended position of the side panels 26 to fill 100 mm space at thefront. If two adjacent cabinets are each provided with extension pieces48 on their adjacent sides then the two cabinets can be accuratelyspaced apart by 200 mm to form a wiring space therebetween, a suitableblanking plate being provided to cover the space to the front.

1. Panel mounting means for mounting panels of a cabinet, comprisingpanel mounts (1) in the form of members disposable at vertical positionswithin the cabinet and having attachment means for the mounting ofpanels thereupon, the panel mounts (1) being mountable to side members(5), or braces (7) extending between side members (5), of the cabinet byintegral members (3) which extend substantially parallel to and at aspacing from the outer face thereof and in a direction perpendicular tothe longitudinal extent thereof, each panel mount (1) being mounted byengagement of the integral member (3) thereof in a respective aperture(4, 6) in the side members (5) or braces (7), followed by movementforwardly or rearwardly to secure the panel mount (1) to the respectiveside member (5) or brace (7), and retaining means, such as pins orstuds, for insertion in aligned bores (8, 9) in the panel mounts (1) andthe side members (5) or braces (7) to prevent return movement of thepanel mounts (1) in the forward or rearward directions.
 2. Panelmounting means for mounting panels according to claim 1 in combinationwith side members (5) or braces (7) of a cabinet, wherein the apertures(4, 6) in the side members (5) or braces (7) are spaced with a 25 mmhorizontal spacing to set the locations at which the panel mounts (1)can be secured at 25 mm spacings.
 3. Panel mounting means for mountingpanels according to claim 1 or 2 in combination with side member (5) orbraces (7) of a cabinet, wherein the braces (7) have horizontallyelongate slots (10) therein, whereby the braces (7) are securable byfastening means, such as bolts, extending through the slots (10), andhorizontally movable with respect to the side members (5) to permit thepanel mounts (1) to be secured at any desired location in the depth ofthe cabinet.
 4. A method of securing in abutment two rectangular-sectiontubular metal members (23, 24) having longitudinal axes extendingmutually at right angles, comprising punching or drilling at least twofirst holes (30, 32) in one wall (31, 33) of each of the metal members(23, 24), acting through the first holes (30, 32) so formed to burstsecond holes (34, 36), respective to each of the first holes (30, 32),in the opposite walls (35, 37) of the metal members (23, 24) to formoutwardly-extending collars (38, 39), screw threading the collars (39)in one of the metal members (23), engaging the collars (38) of the otherof the metal members (34) in the first holes (32) of the one of themetal members (23), and engaging bolts through respective ones of thealigned first and second holes (32, 32, 34, 36) in the metal members(23, 24) to engage the screw threads in the collars (39) of the one ofthe metal members (23) to clamp the metal members (23, 24) together. 5.A method of hanging a vertical side panel (26) of an electrical cabinet,comprising engaging a top flange of the side panel (26), which topflange has a horizontal portion (28), over an upper suspension member ofa frame of the cabinet, and engaging a horizontal lower flange (44) ofthe side panel (26) with an upturned hook portion (47) at the lower endof the frame of the cabinet such that the upturned hook (47) projectsupwardly through an aperture (45) in the lower flange (44), wherein theaperture (45) in the lower flange (44) is aligned with a cutout (46) ina free edge of the lower flange (44) and engagement is effected byengaging the hook (47) in the cutout (46) and then slightly raising theside panel (26) while pushing the same inwardly towards the cabinetbefore lowering the side panel (26) downwardly onto the hook (47).
 6. Amethod according to claim 5, wherein the upper suspension member of theframe of the cabinet is provided at the upper end of vertical sidemembers (24) of the frame or on extension pieces (48) which aresupported by the side members (24) and project laterally outwardly toextend beyond the side members (24).
 7. A method according to claim 6,wherein the extension pieces (48) have hooks (49) to engage over theupper edges of the side members (24), in a recess such that the upperedges are below the upper extremity of the side members (24), and bebolted to the side members (24) to be retained in position.
 8. A methodaccording to claim 7, wherein each extension piece (48) can be used aseither an upper or lower extension piece.